Endowed professorship honors Gettysburg College philosophy faculty

Fred and Martha Mahan will endow the Frederick ’52 and Martha Mahan Professor in Christian Studies

A $1.5 million estate gift will endow the Frederick ’52 and Martha Mahan Professor in Christian Studies. The generous gift from Fred and Martha Mahan honors the mentoring and teaching of two Gettysburg College professors, Norman Richardson and Kerry Walters. The Mahans want to be sure that such mentoring and spirit of inquiry will be in place for future generations of Gettysburg College students, and they want to foster dialogue between faith traditions and secular cultures.

In 2010 the couple established the Frederick Mahan Great Questions Fund to provide opportunities for students and faculty to explore the perennial great questions of faith, reason, values, truth, and purpose. The annual Mahan Lecture brings speakers to campus to explore the relationship of those questions to the purpose and meaning of life. President Janet Morgan Riggs ’77 announced the professorship and thanked the pair at the 2013 lecture on campus.